The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.

Loading ...

Loading ...

This story appears in the {{article.article.magazine.pretty_date}} issue of {{article.article.magazine.pubName}}. Subscribe

Part one of this series explained how Seattle fell in love with the sport of soccer in the 1950's and 60's, and how that love affair resulted in one of the more popular teams in the NASL in the 1970's. The second post in this series examined how a tight knit soccer community kept the sport going in the absence of top flight soccer until the MLS Sounders were born in 2009. This third-and-final post looks at how the MLS Sounders translated the area's passion for the sport into the best attended team in the league by connecting to the club's history and taking actions to ensure they achieved far more than the typical expansion franchise.

Achieving Unparalleled Results

One of the 22,000 inaugural season ticket holders was Jim Simmons. He had watched the NASL Sounders in his youth, had become a parent of soccer players, and was actively involved in coaching and administering youth soccer within the state of Washington. In his view the arrival of the MLS Sounders was the continuation of a 40 year relationship with the sport that may be best represented by an NASL Sounders scarf he still proudly displays today.

Packages were sent out to each ticket holder as the first match for the MLS side approached. They not only contained a season’s worth of tickets, but also a gift from the club that they hoped would serve as a special memento. The inaugural match ticket would come attached to a Sounders scarf that clearly identified the person wearing it as a “2009 Season Ticket Holder.”

The emotions Jim Simmons recounts from the day he opened the box were completely unexpected, yet completely appropriate given the moment.

The package came, and I was pretty excited about it. To open it up and see the first game ticket attached to the scarf… I loved the colors. The colors, although slightly different shades, were the green and blue the original Sounders had. I just went back to the warm summer nights in High School Memorial Stadium, the lousy field but great atmosphere. I went back to the camps. I went back to the things I had seen and the people I had met. It literally brought tears to my eyes.

Simmons would unfortunately miss the inaugural match due to a long-planned trip, but 32,523 other fans would show up to see the Sounders beat the New York Red Bulls by a convincing 3-0 score line. What started with a raucous home win would grow into the second best inaugural season for an expansion franchise in MLS history, bettered only by Chicago’s championship winning side of 1998. By the end of June 2009 the Sounders had earned 25 of an available 48 points, maintaining the 1.5 points-per-match pace required to make the MLS playoffs. It was at the 16th match in late June, halfway through the season, that the Sounders achieved the 32,000-attendee mark again after a string of home matches attended by 28,000 fans. Since that final weekend of June 2009, the club has never had a league home match with fewer than 32,000 supporters in attendance. Sprinkled in the middle of each of those inaugural season sellouts were friendlies against Chelsea FC and FC Barcelona, each attended by 65,000 people. Seattle was officially in love with their club, and the club had easily become the hottest ticket in town. The Sounders would finish the year with 47 points from 90 available - good enough to qualify for the playoffs and the second best point percentage for an expansion franchise in MLS history, easily besting every other MLS expansion team’s record outside of the 1998 Chicago Fire.

Fans from the USL and NASL days would notice a key difference in the atmosphere of the MLS matches during the inaugural season – the rise of the urban youth and the club’s supporters groups. NASL Sounders matches were never quiet affairs, but they also had very few of the chants, scarves, or supporters sections that are critical to a club’s success in modern day soccer. A number of the people interviewed for this article mentioned the NASL Sounders’ emphasis on a family atmosphere being critical to their success. They say such an atmosphere still exists in the MLS side, with many of these longtime fans now parents or grandparents who feel comfortable bringing their children and grandchildren to Sounders matches. They also recognize that family appeal only takes attendance so far, so the successful blending of such an atmosphere with one that encourages supporters groups and the vocal nature of the younger fan is crucial to filling 36,000 or more seats on a weekly basis.

The Emerald City Supporters in the Brougham End of CenturyLink Field

Scholarly research suggests the Sounders are striking just the right balance. Graduate student Blaine Uhlman and Associate Professor Galen Trail, both of Seattle University and Sounders fans themselves, have written a research paper entitled An Analysis of the Motivators of Seattle Sounders FC Season Ticket Holders. The paper explores the motivations behind first and second year season ticket holders’ purchase of tickets and support of the club. What they found suggests that the Sounders are successfully balancing paying homage to a club with a history that identifies with Seattle while simultaneously attracting the type of fan interested in a world-class atmosphere more likely to be found in matches in Europe rather than MLS.